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Thursday, October 23, 2014

A wealthy American businessman was standing on a pier at a small village on an exotic South Pacific Island, when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. Inside the small boat were half a dozen good size fish. The American complimented the Islander on the number and size of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them.

The Islander replied, "Only a little while."

The American then asked why didn't he stay out longer and catch more fish?

The Islander said he had enough to support his family's immediate needs.

The American then asked, "But what do you do with the rest of your time?"

The fisherman said, "I sleep late, play with my children, take a late afternoon nap with my wife, stroll into the village each evening where I sip rum and play guitar with my friends, and then I stroll home. I have a full and busy life."

The American scoffed, "I have an MBA from Harvard and could help you. If you spent more time fishing you could sell the extra fish, take the proceeds & buy a bigger faster boat, catch even more fish, make even more money and then buy several boats and hire your friends to run them. Eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats and instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would sell directly to the processor, making even more money to eventually open your own cannery. At that point you would control the product, marketing, processing and distribution. You keep expanding until you would need to leave this small fishing village and move to Australia, then Los Angeles and eventually New York, where you will run your expanding Pacific wide enterprise."

The South Seas fisherman asked, "But, how long will this all take?"

To which the American replied, "15-20 years."

"But what then?"

The American laughed and said, "That's the best part. When the time is right you would make a deal with an investment bank to take you public, announce an IPO, sell your company stock to the public and become very rich. You would make millions!"

"Millions, really? Then what?"

The American said, "Then you would retire, move to a small fishing village on an exotic South Pacific island where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take a late afternoon nap with your wife, and stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip rum and play your guitar with your friends."